Lesson eight - pages 16/17 Grandfather and baby

Aim for the book

To explore real and visionary journeys encountered in life.

Learning objectives

• To know a family is a group of people of all ages, and that Christians talk about being members of the worldwide family of the church.
• To be able to recall and recount a time when the children's own family got together.
• To understand that memories of past events and people are important for our self-worth.

Background

The Bible reference is a blessing of hope and expectation that God will care for each person. The words reflect the importance of a personal relationship. Christians believe that each person is a special person in God's eyes. Another aspect of the quotation is the importance of a face, and here it is God's face. It is in each other's faces that we often read so much, as our faces reflect our thoughts. 'Peace' is from the Hebrew word 'Shalom', which means more than just 'peace'. It is to feel at ease with oneself, one's neighbours and with God.

Bible reference

Numbers 6.24-6

Key words

• Family
• Shalom
• Memories

Activity one - family events

• You will need
  A large family photograph (preferably one taken many years ago), showing different generations. It might show the teacher looking much younger!
  Drawing materials.
• Start
  Engage the interest of the children by looking at the photograph and noticing the appearance of those people in the picture.
• Develop
  Encourage the children to deduce at what occasion the picture might have been taken.
  What are the ages of the people in the picture?
  Are they all part of the same family?
  When do families get together? It might be for special occasions - such as birthdays, Christmas, weddings - or because families just like to get together.
  How do the children feel when they get together with their extended family?
  Do they wear special clothes for any of these occasions?
  Are there sad times when people get together - perhaps because they are moving away, or the death of a relative?
  Get the children to think of a time when their family got together, and draw a picture of the event.
• End
  Share the pictures drawn by the children. Ask some to tell them about the event it depicts.
  Invite the children to bring in a photograph of their family, and make a display of them and the drawings.
• Assessment opportunities
  Can the children tell about a memory that they have, and explain why it is important to them?

Activity two - special memories

• You will need
  A copy of the book Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox. (Puffin Books ISBN 0-14-050586 - 5)
  A collection of the artefacts that are written about in the story.
  A basket.
  A puppet.
  A medal.
  An egg.
  A shell.
  A football.
  An object that is precious to you.
  Writing and drawing materials.
• Start
  Show the children an object that is precious to you, and explain why it has special significance.
  Then read or tell the story, and show each object as the story proceeds, as Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge collects up objects.
  Put them in the basket one by one.
  Take them out as Miss Nancy recounts the events that she remembers.
• Develop
  Recall together with the children how each special article jogged Miss Nancy's memory.
  Ask the children to think of a special object of their own which reminds them of a special time or a special person.
  The children might also say what kind of memory it is.
  Does it make you laugh? (Like the puppet.)
  Does it make you cry? (Like the medal.)
  Is it a thing that is warm? (Like the egg.)
  Is it a thing from long ago? (Like the shell.)
  Is it a thing as precious as gold? (Like the football.)
  During the discussion, try to encourage the children to understand that people's memories are very varied. (Grandfather in the picture may have sad, happy or precious memories from yesterday, and others from long ago.)
  Now ask children to draw a picture or write about an object or a memory that is special to them and why ...
• End
  Share the children's pictures and written work.
  Try to categorize them as happy, sad, funny, precious, long ago.

Activity three - my face

• You will need
  A famous artist's self-portrait such as Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Spencer. Also sketches by Rembrandt. These are widely available; see Rembrandt pub (Taschen ISBN 3-8228-0559-9).
  Mirrors.
  Drawing materials or
  Magazines and collage materials.
• Start
  Show the artist's self-portrait to the children and discuss how they think the artist might have been feeling: happy, sad, worried, peaceful or what?
• Develop
  Show sketches by Rembrandt showing different facial expressions, noticing how Rembrandt practised his drawing technique by changing the eyes, mouth and so on.
  In pairs, encourage the children to share different emotions by their facial expressions.
  So the first child make a peaceful expression.
  The second child guesses what emotion is being conveyed.
  After practising this, the children then study their own facial expressions using the mirrors and draw sketches of themselves depicting two different feelings.
  An alternative idea would be to have some magazines for the children to look through and discover different expressions, which they could then cut out and make into a collage.
• End
  Share the children's work, and examine what it is that is that makes people' faces seem happy, sad, worried and so on.

Web site links

http://www.memfox.net/

Mem Fox's book Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge is used in the lesson plan's second activity. At her own web site, the author tells the story behind this and other stories that she has written.

'Of all my books, this is the one adults love most. (Which is not to say that children don't love it too!) My grandfather, Wilfrid (note the spelling) Partridge, lived in an old people's home. When I visited him I noticed and mourned the lack of children. Old people and children get along brilliantly, yet here they were, separated from each other by the craziness of our society. So I decided to write a book that brought children and the elderly together in the hope that teachers would initiate similar contact.

Also on the site are articles for teachers, recipes and a full bibliography and biography.

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/rembrandt/self/

View these self-portraits of Rembrandt to accompany the third activity of the lesson plan. Further self-portraits can be viewed at http://www.values.ch/vangogh.htm. This site takes the images of Van Gogh on The Gambia's postage stamps to tell his story.

Activity checklist

Activity one - family events

A large family photograph (preferably one taken many years ago), showing different generations. It might show the teacher looking much younger!
Drawing materials.

Activity two - special memories

A copy of the book Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox. (Puffin Books ISBN 0-14-050586 - 5)
A collection of the artefacts that are written about in the story.
A basket.
A puppet.
A medal.
An egg.
A shell.
A football.
An object that is precious to you.
Writing and drawing materials.

Activity three - my face

A famous artist's self-portrait such as Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Spencer. Also sketches by Rembrandt. These are widely available; see Rembrandt pub (Taschen ISBN 3-8228-0559-9).
Mirrors.
Drawing materials or
Magazines and collage materials.

© Graham Owen